“The Lost Art of Reading” speaks to many of us in today’s modern society — although it may be a tad disconcerting that the book editor of the LA Times says he has a hard time devoting the necessary attention to readingn. (Via.)

Those damn Leftists!!!! Hugo Chavez has the audacity to start a Revolutionary Reading Plan that includes giving away thousands of free books and sending “book squadrons” around the country that are intended to encourage reading. (Via.)

I wonder, though, if Hugo has checked this out. The New Statesman, a British magazine “created in 1913 with the aim of permeating the educated and influential classes with socialist ideas,” has a list of Red Reads, “50 books that will change your life.” (I am somewhat surprised I have only read four.) (Via.)

Retired (as of today) U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has bought a new home in part because, according to a friend, his current home wasn’t structurally strong enough to hold the thousands of books he owned.

For some reason this strikes me as odd. The subject of Ian McEwan’s next novel? Climate change. (Via.)

Oxfam opens used bookstores in the UK and other secondhand booksellers cry foul.